T-Mobile US CEO John Legere has had an eventful week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. He was thrown out of AT&T's CES party Monday night after the company detected his presence. Today, he got on stage to announce T-Mobile's latest initiative, and he unleashed a stream of curses and insults at competitors AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.

Family plans are "total horseshit… nothing more than a contract on super steroids with staggered dates—a complete life sentence," Legere said. "Sprint is a pile of spectrum waiting to be turned into a capability. Right now, their network is completely horrible."

AT&T, meanwhile, is a "total source of amusement for me," he said, blasting the company's plan to charge content providers for the right to bypass data caps that hinder customers instead of just offering unlimited data like T-Mobile does.

Legere, wearing a T-Mobile T-shirt and holding a can of Red Bull, even said he plans to send a cease and desist letter to AT&T "to stop their advertising that say they're the fastest." Cellular companies often claim to be the fastest or biggest network—naturally, T-Mobile today said the latest numbers show it's the fastest.

His speech today wasn't all bluster, though. T-Mobile said it would pay off early termination fees (ETF) for customers who switch from AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon. "With an eligible phone trade-in, the total value of the offer to switch to T-Mobile could be as high as $650 per line," the company's announcement said. "ETFs can cost as much as $350 per line. Multiply that two, three, or four times for a family, and switching becomes an extremely expensive proposition."

T-Mobile argued that family plans lock people into their carriers for much longer than two years because "with staggered expiration dates and early termination fees, they’re really locking you in forever."

T-Mobile said its offer to pay off early termination fees is good even for families. Details are as follows:

Starting tomorrow, customers from the three major national carriers who hand in their eligible devices at any participating T-Mobile location and switch to a postpaid Simple Choice Plan can receive an instant credit, based on the value of their phone, of up to $300. They then purchase any eligible device, including T-Mobile’s most popular smartphones, now priced at $0 down (plus 24 monthly device payments for well-qualified customers). After customers get the final bill from their old carrier (showing their early termination fees), they either mail it to T-Mobile or upload it to www.switch2tmobile.com. T-Mobile then sends an additional payment equal to those fees, up to $350 per line. Trade-in of their old phone, purchase of a new T-Mobile phone and porting of their phone number to T-Mobile are required to qualify.

Family plans at T-Mobile "start with one line at $50 per month for unlimited talk, text, and Web with up to 500MB of 4G LTE data," the company said. "They can add a second phone line for $30 per month, and each additional line is just $10 per month."

While T-Mobile lets users pay for handsets on a 24-month installment plan, the company noted that it has eliminated annual service contracts, saying customers should be able to switch whenever they'd like.

AT&T last week announced that it would give T-Mobile customers up to $450 in incentives to switch, in a move widely seen as an attempt to preempt T-Mobile's announcement.

Legere said T-Mobile has turned the ship around in customer numbers. While T-Mobile lost 2.1 million customers overall in 2012, in 2013 it added 4.4 million net new customers, Legere said. That includes 1.645 million new customers in the fourth quarter, about half postpaid and half prepaid.

T-Mobile is also hoping to ride high on its pending acquisition of more than $3 billion worth of 700MHz A-Block spectrum licenses from Verizon Wireless. Verizon had to sell off spectrum in order to gain approval for a separate spectrum purchase. T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray said in his 14 years at the company, "I have never had a weapon like this in my arsenal. We are going to frighten the crap out of AT&T and Verizon with that spectrum."

Sprint and Dish are reportedly considering bids to purchase T-Mobile. Without naming them, Legere said the rumored buyers are just "spectrum with no legs." He said he believes US government officials want T-Mobile to remain a real alternative to the biggest carriers. Even if T-Mobile is acquired, the brand and its attitude should live on, he said.

I will be switching tomorrow. Thank you T-Mobile, for getting me off Verizon and my two-year old Galaxy "Nexus." The coverage in my area is actually great and I am tired of dealing with Verizon's bullshit, especially when it comes to Android and Nexus phones. I'll be upgrading to the Nexus 5.

The only catch, which kind of sucks, is that you cannot bring your own device for this offer. AFAIK, I will have to buy the Nexus 5 from T-Mobile (an extra $50) instead of from the Google Play Store.

T-Mobile is great if you're in a large metropolitian area - I'm in Minneapolis w/ the $30 a month plan and it is wonderful.

I, however, went to North Dakota to visit family over the holiday break and I did not have service once I left Fargo. While it was nice to get away from the electronics for awhile, their coverage leaves a lot to be desired in some places!

It was fun to watch live on the T-Mobile press site. Wise of them to do that. I hope they release a video of it after the fact. There was so much (mild) profanity that I'd wonder, but on the other hand maybe that's their new MO.

It reminded me of nothing so much as a ~ 1999 or ~2000 Apple MacWorld keynote by Steve Jobs.

Jobs never cursed on stage but he had a similar attitude. Sure we've sucked in the past, but we're going to blow you away now.

I will be switching tomorrow. Thank you T-Mobile, for getting me off Verizon and my two-year old Galaxy "Nexus." The coverage in my area is actually great and I am tired of dealing with Verizon's bullshit, especially when it comes to Android and Nexus phones. I'll be upgrading to the Nexus 5.

The only catch, which kind of sucks, is that you cannot bring your own device for this offer. AFAIK, I will have to buy the Nexus 5 from T-Mobile (an extra $50) instead of from the Google Play Store.

I love T-Mobile, but if I didn't live in a relatively dense urban environment that they serve well I'd probably have to bite the particularly painful bullet and get a service with coverage. I get no coverage anywhere near my parents house on the edge of a mid-sized town in Arkansas, and quickly lose coverage when I drive away from town here and into the desert.

Still my GF has Verizon, and the harsh data-caps, lock in, and high rates don't make up for the marginally better coverage.

T-Mobile is great if you're in a large metropolitian area - I'm in Minneapolis w/ the $30 a month plan and it is wonderful.

I, however, went to North Dakota to visit family over the holiday break and I did not have service once I left Fargo. While it was nice to get away from the electronics for awhile, their coverage leaves a lot to be desired in some places!

The difference with T-Mobile is they don't charge you an arm and a leg for the service.

Full disclosure, I've been with T-Mobile for years as they're the best in terms of price/performance in metropolitan areas...

Agreed, when you can connect. I just switched to T-Mobile from Sprint. Driving across town? No problem. Driving across the country (or in my case, just going downstairs in my home)? Frustratingly not available.

I really hope they throw a lot of coin into new towers. I love everything else about them, but price/performance goes to infinity when performance=0.

*Edit: yes, I do use wi-fi calling. but my point still stands about the poor tower coverage at my house

I really like what T-mobile is trying to do, and I like bringing to attention how unfair things are. However, he reminds me of a really smart friend who doesn't like to get clogged up in the details and says things to get people to like him. Then throws around a few vagaries.

Unfortunately for T-mobile, lots of people don't want to admit the price of a phone. They want it hidden from them. It's a damn same, because most companies are all too happy to take advantage of people.

I will be switching tomorrow. Thank you T-Mobile, for getting me off Verizon and my two-year old Galaxy "Nexus." The coverage in my area is actually great and I am tired of dealing with Verizon's bullshit, especially when it comes to Android and Nexus phones. I'll be upgrading to the Nexus 5.

See ya!

I just did the same thing. Verizon was actually pretty cool with the leaving bit (prorated my final bill without my asking) and I waited until both the contracts on my account were up before switching, but I'm really much happier now. Upgraded from the GNex to the Nexus 5, and it's a fantastic phone. LTE is great, but the HSPA+ is so much faster than Verizon already, I leave LTE turned off.

Some people are saying that T-Mobile shouldn't call out Sprint for their network issues, but frankly non-LTE T-mobile service is actually useful, whereas non-LTE Sprint service is dog slow. So, yes, I think T-Mobile's network is much better than Sprint's. Don't confuse coverage with service. T-Mobile may not have the best coverage, but their service is fine.

I am fortunate enough to live in a well covered T-Mobile area just north of NYC, and seemingly travel to other well covered T-Mobile areas. Combine that with my international travel with T-Mobile's free roaming and there's just no comparison with any other providers. I don't get nickle-and-dimed on every little feature. I don't have a contract. I get a slight discount on high end smartphones but not trapped in a silly subsidy model.

Yes, all mobile operators suck on some level. But T-Mobile sucks a lot less.

If T-Mobile would build out towers in my area (where they have practically nothing), I would be there in a New York minute.

That's one of two big things that drove me to Verizon. Coverage in my town of 33k people is spotty. At my old place it was fine. My house can't get coverage indoors and Wi-Fi calling is not available on every device (not on iPhone or unlocked nexus devices for instance) so it's not an option.

And then I drive in a five state area a lot and found I was on EDGE and GPRS a lot on the interstate. Goodbye Google Maps.

If their coverage outside of the top 200 was better I'd be tempted to go back, or rather I'd never have left.

T-Mobile is great if you're in a large metropolitian area - I'm in Minneapolis w/ the $30 a month plan and it is great.

I, however, went to North Dakota to visit family of the holiday break and didn't have service once I left Fargo. While it was nice to get away from the electronics for awhile, their coverage leaves a lot to be desired in some places!

Yah, I just checked their coverage and saw... 2G! In only 2 ND cities and service partner coverage otherwise. Then their 3G and 4G exists rarely outside big cities.

MVNO seems to be the best option between all the big networks if you want the best deal and coverage.

I will be switching tomorrow. Thank you T-Mobile, for getting me off Verizon and my two-year old Galaxy "Nexus." The coverage in my area is actually great and I am tired of dealing with Verizon's bullshit, especially when it comes to Android and Nexus phones. I'll be upgrading to the Nexus 5.

The only catch, which kind of sucks, is that you cannot bring your own device for this offer. AFAIK, I will have to buy the Nexus 5 from T-Mobile (an extra $50) instead of from the Google Play Store.

See ya!

Are you like my alternate universe twin? I am switching from the same carrier/phone, to the same phone on T-Mobile, for the same reasons.

Got my Nexus 5 today, just waiting for my T-Mo SIM to show up so I can activate the service. Should be here tomorrow, and then life will be grand!

Hey T-Mobile, how about providing a coverage map as to where your refarmed 1900 areas are? That'd be a helluva lot more useful for people considering your network than selling people's handsets for them.

Well, that and stop yourself from being bought by a crappy CDMA network provider.

The ONLY reason I'm still on Verizon - after being a customer since they were AirTouch - is the fact that I've managed to hang on to one of the old really-unlimited-data plans.

The moment Verizon tries to strong-arm me off that plan (when my current phone dies or can't handle my workload anymore, I presume) is the moment they lose me as a customer. I'll have to go on a limited-data plan on T-Mobile, but at least I can use a Nexus 5 (FU, Verizon) and won't feel like I'm some kind of CopperTop from The Matrix, which is how Verizon makes me feel every time I have actual contact with their employees.

I will be switching tomorrow. Thank you T-Mobile, for getting me off Verizon and my two-year old Galaxy "Nexus." The coverage in my area is actually great and I am tired of dealing with Verizon's bullshit, especially when it comes to Android and Nexus phones. I'll be upgrading to the Nexus 5.

See ya!

I just did the same thing. Verizon was actually pretty cool with the leaving bit (prorated my final bill without my asking) and I waited until both the contracts on my account were up before switching, but I'm really much happier now.

I'm surprised. When I left Verizon for T-Mobile (shortly after the original G1 was released), I had to pay a $350 ETF, and by the time I got the bill for that and paid it, they had already issued my phone number to someone else, so my payment posted to their account. They never even bothered trying to contact me about it, and just sent the "unpaid ETF" to collections. Long story short, it was a pretty big headache to switch away from Verizon, but I've been with T-Mobile ever since, and have always had excellent service (I live in the Seattle-Tacoma I-5 corridor).

I will be switching tomorrow. Thank you T-Mobile, for getting me off Verizon and my two-year old Galaxy "Nexus." The coverage in my area is actually great and I am tired of dealing with Verizon's bullshit, especially when it comes to Android and Nexus phones. I'll be upgrading to the Nexus 5.

See ya!

I just did the same thing. Verizon was actually pretty cool with the leaving bit (prorated my final bill without my asking) and I waited until both the contracts on my account were up before switching, but I'm really much happier now.

I'm surprised. When I left Verizon for T-Mobile (shortly after the original G1 was released), I had to pay a $350 ETF, and by the time I got the bill for that and paid it, they had already issued my phone number to someone else, so my payment posted to their account. They never even bothered trying to contact me about it, and just sent the "unpaid ETF" to collections. Long story short, it was a pretty big headache to switch away from Verizon, but I've been with T-Mobile ever since, and have always had excellent service (I live in the Seattle-Tacoma I-5 corridor).

Just a question why didn't you keep your service before switching?

You're generally supposed to transfer your number through your new telco before canceling prior service.

I will be switching tomorrow. Thank you T-Mobile, for getting me off Verizon and my two-year old Galaxy "Nexus." The coverage in my area is actually great and I am tired of dealing with Verizon's bullshit, especially when it comes to Android and Nexus phones. I'll be upgrading to the Nexus 5.

See ya!

I just did the same thing. Verizon was actually pretty cool with the leaving bit (prorated my final bill without my asking) and I waited until both the contracts on my account were up before switching, but I'm really much happier now.

I'm surprised. When I left Verizon for T-Mobile (shortly after the original G1 was released), I had to pay a $350 ETF, and by the time I got the bill for that and paid it, they had already issued my phone number to someone else, so my payment posted to their account. They never even bothered trying to contact me about it, and just sent the "unpaid ETF" to collections. Long story short, it was a pretty big headache to switch away from Verizon, but I've been with T-Mobile ever since, and have always had excellent service (I live in the Seattle-Tacoma I-5 corridor).

Just a question why didn't you keep your service before switching?

You're generally supposed to transfer your number through your new telco before canceling prior service.

I belive that this was before number transfer became a common practice. Also, it allowed me to cut ties with people I no longer wished to associate with.

I am enjoying free T-Moble data on my tablet, though. I hardly ever use it, and it's not much data, but it's free and I don't need much data on a tablet anyway. I love what T-Mobile is doing and I hope they're wildly successful shaking things up. Maybe they'll expand their network with all the new customers they're winning over, and actually force the other carriers to change, too.